About Me
My name is Diana Sousa
I'm one of those people for whom some of the hardest questions to answer in life are "Where are you from?", "Where is home?", "What's your mother-tongue?". A third culture kid I moved between countries, cultures and languages pretty much all my life.
As a child my home language was Portuguese, I lived seven years in Angola and spent five years in Lisbon studying at university so I'm a Portuguese native speaker.
At the same time I attended the French school system, from preschool right through to the end of high school and lived in Belgium for six years so in some ways I'm also a French native speaker.
Finally I've spent five years studying, and the last fifteen years working, in Scotland, England and South Africa so English is not far behind French and Portuguese.
I'm an experienced professional with cultural insights and areas of specialisation
Not only do I translate into and from languages I have spoken and written since childhood, I also have an in-depth knowledge of the local cultures for each of these thanks to my international upbringing. I understand the importance of taking into account the cultural background to ensure that there are no misunderstandings and that communication is improved to bring about positive change. I produce materials which are tailored to the target audience by incorporating localisation into any work that I do.
With an academic background in international development and economics, together with work experience in the non-for-profit and charity sector, I focus on translations that contribute to sustainable environmental and global development. I aim to promote the well-being, education, empowerment and health of those who can most benefit from my language skills.
I also have extensive experience translating content for the travel and tourism industry in Africa, and working in marketing and advertising for the African Portuguese and French audiences.